Wedding Bell Blues
by RyleyFanfictionWriter
Summary: (Ryley AU) Marley agrees to become Ryder's "wingman" and Ryder promises to repay the favor. When Marley receives a wedding invitation from her high school love, Jake, Marley enlists Ryder to pretend to be her boyfriend to go to the wedding with. But will Ryder and Marley's friendship become something more or fall apart in the wedding madness? I own nothing related to GLEE.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hi! For those who knew me as starkidgleek12: After a really long hiatus where life got in the way, I had to create a new account. Please R&amp;R. Especially leave a review. And feel free to follow me on tumblr if you haven't at: **_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Prologue-4 years ago**_

"Marley! Come on, you'll get over him. But you can't let him win by sitting here in your dorm and watching "The Time Traveler's Wife" for the millionth time and eating your way through your entire mini-fridge." Marley's roommate and best friend Kitty said as she tried to get Marley to go out to some seedy college bar with her and their friends.

"What if he calls? I know he will," Marley argued.

"Sweetie, no he won't. In fact, he's probably sleeping around even more now that he doesn't have to worry about hurting you. Why do you even want him back?" she asked as she got Marley some clean clothes.

"Because he's the Danny to my Sandy. And this always happens, he'll come to his senses. And it's just a little difficult now that we're in two different places. I can't just give up on our relationship every time we hit a rough patch." she replied stubbornly.

"Look, you've done nothing but go to class, and come right back to bed for like a month since you found out. You can't stop living your life waiting for him to realize what he wants." Kitty continued.

"You sound like my mother, stop it. And fine, I guess I can go out for maybe just a little bit." Marley relented as Kitty gave a little squeal of excitement.

"Who knows, maybe you'll find someone more handsome and charming and better for you than Jake." Kitty said as Marley begrudgingly got up.

"You don't even know Jake. There was no one like him. He's my soul mate and one day, he'll come here and we'll forgive each other and we'll be happy again." Marley insisted.

"No, no, no, no. You need to forget about Jake. New city and a new life means a brand new guy. You may not meet "the one" tonight, but he'll come along. But for the love of god, don't scare every available guy on the market by being the clingy ex-girlfriend with obvious daddy issues." Kitty groaned in frustration. "Here, wear this shirt and do you even own a decent bra? Oh well, this one will do. You're not exactly in the right state of mind for a one-night stand, so I guess we try and stuff it to make it look like you actually have boobs?" Kitty continued as she dug through Marley's drawers.

"Kitty, shut up." Marley shot back.

A little while later, the two girls were on their way to one of the downtown bars. Marley was a little worried because she didn't have a fake I.D., but apparently the bouncer wasn't too worried by this. He just stamped their hands but Marley mentally forced herself to just drink water. And she wasn't going to give anyone the opportunity to drug it. She didn't want anything bad to happen the first night she goes out with her friends. Marley had expected at least one of their friends to stay with her at the bar, but all of them had hit the dance floor. Marley just pulled out her phone and turned on the book app. She knew this wasn't what she was supposed to be doing when going out, but Kitty couldn't expect her to change in one night.

"Hi." she heard as someone slid into the seat next to her. He looked vaguely familiar. He had light brown hair and a very muscular build. He was in a couple of classes with her, but all the other girls threw themselves at him, so she never exactly concerned herself with introducing herself to him.

"Hi." she replied tersely. She was waiting for him to be a total douche bag.

"You know, I had a really cheesy line I was going to use, but I got distracted by your beauty." he said nervously.

"Who needs a line when that was already in your back pocket?" she replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, you're right. That was actually really awful. I guess it's time to stick my foot in my mouth. I'm just not good at this." he admitted.

"Me either. It's just not a good time for me to get hit on at a bar by a stranger." Marley confessed.

"Yeah. I just got out of a relationship with this girl I had been dating since high school. My friend told me to just sleep with someone else and I'd be over her. And I think I might've overshared." he continued as he hung his head in shame.

"It's fine. I just got out of a relationship myself. Look, you seem like a really nice guy…" Marley started, hoping he would get the hint.

"I'm sorry. I'll go." he sighed in frustration. Marley felt sorry for the poor guy.

"Okay, wait. I'll help you." she said as he turned back around to face her.

"How?" he asked.

"There has to be some girl here that's right for you. Just play it cool. Just stay here, and we'll act like we know each other and I'll introduce you to someone if you seem interested. My name's Marley, by the way." she said to him.

"Okay. My name's Ryder." he said as they shook hands.

"Hey, Marley! I didn't know you would be here tonight!" a girl said loudly as she pushed her way through the throng.

"Oh, hey Celeste." Marley said half-heartedly to the girl.

"So. Who's your friend?" she asked mysteriously when she saw Ryder.

"Oh, this is Ryder. We were just talking about a term paper." Marley said right on the spot. _"Maybe he'll go away if they hit it off." _she thought desperately to herself.

"Hi." Jordan said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Marley had to hold back a laugh at how obvious Jordan was being.

"So how do you two know each other?" Jordan asked her.

"Um, we met at a charity thing." Marley lied. She was wondering why she was trying to help this random guy get laid. Oh right, she wanted to get out of there and she didn't want said random guy following her back to her place, even though this was what Kitty wanted her to do in the first place.

"Oh my god, I love to do charity work too!" Jordan said excitedly, although this time it was directed to him. Marley just wanted to be done with this conversation already.

"Yeah, it was this thing where we played music to or-orphan kids." Marley continued as Ryder nodded in agreement. Marley knew it was about time to bow out of this.

"Well, I should probably go. You two crazy kids should stay and get to know one another though." Marley said as Jordan and Ryder started making googly eyes at one another. Ryder nodded a thank you to Marley and she smiled back. Her work there was done. Now they would live happily ever after, possibly adopting orphan kids and playing music to them and Marley would probably be sitting alone every night for the rest of her life wondering if Jake was still being faithful to her when he most likely wasn't. She would begrudgingly accept this as her fate and she didn't think it was half-bad. Maybe she could adopt a cat to keep her warm during the lonely nights. Fluffy wouldn't be a bad name. _"Okay, stop this Marley. Just go home, see if Jake has texted you back yet, maybe watch a movie and go to sleep." _she thought to herself as she got on a train to go back to campus. After a weird night, she really needed to relax.

On Monday, after yet another weekend of her wallowing in her misery, she was determined to try and get over Jake_._ After class, she still had an hour before her next one and decided to go into the coffee shop. And of course, she would run into the guy who tried to hit on her at bar.

"Hey! It's Marley right?" he said brightly as she sat down with her drink.

"Hey. So I'm guessing you had a good night with Jordan, right?" Marley smirked at him.

"Jordan is her name? I thought it was Celeste. Man, that's confusing." he said with a puzzled expression. "Well, when the sun came up, we decided to mutually part but I realized something: I needed a wingman, someone to help facilitate my social life." Ryder explained as Marley looked at him in slight disgust.

"You mean someone to help you hook up with girls because you clearly have no game by yourself?" Marley replied dryly.

"Well, if you want to put it that way." he scoffed.

"Look, don't you have friends that can help make you look like less of an inept douche bag?" she said as she tried to get up and leave.

"I need a woman for this job. I can't have my buddies, who are usually considered more attractive and ambitious than me, talking me up to someone I just want to have meaningless sex with!" Ryder explained, exasperated by Marley's stubbornness.

"I thought you were like, a relationship sort of guy?" Marley asked.

"I used to be. Until Saturday night when I had my epiphany that one night stands can in fact fulfill the physical and emotional gratification of relationships without the attachment that comes with them. They're short relationships based on mutualism. We both get what we need and I don't have to worry about wondering if she's pissed off at me for something." Ryder continued as he followed her out of the coffee shop.

"You have issues." Marley stated, quickly getting annoyed at him.

"If you help me, we'll be forging a lifelong friendship and I'll forever be in your debt, and whatever crazy, doomed to fail scheme you're in, I'll do whatever it takes to help you pull it off. So, what do you say? And to show that there are no hard feelings, I'll let you walk away from this if you don't want to become my partner in crime, per se; just say the word." Ryder replied. It really was tempting to walk away, but there was something about this guy that made her want to help him.

"Fine. But I'll help at my discretion. If I don't want to go into some sleazy bar just to help you get laid, you're just going to have to deal with your libido issues, I don't care how many times you make that hopelessly adorable puppy dog face at me." Marley explained as they shook hands.

"You think I have a hopelessly adorable puppy dog face?" he asked smugly.

"Shut up." she retorted as they walked into Miller Hall for their class.

And despite the initial hesitation on Marley's part, they would form a tight friendship. Sometimes they were so close to each other that people would think they were actually dating. Four years later, Marley would eventually call in on those favors in an unconventional way.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, the next 3 chapters are kind of short so I'm uploading them tonight, but not all at once if that makes sense. I want at least one review or a new story favorite or follow. So I hope you enjoy. And I'm still in the beginning stages, so it hasn't got completely crazy yet but this does set it up. **

**And a huge thanks to:  
.35**

**Guest 1**

**Guest 2**

**TeaAndGlee**

**Jennoist-OTP**

**skycaro**

**all for leaving the first reviews. And thanks to those who have followed and/or favorited this story. All the love is much appreciated.**

**I own nothing related to Glee, in fact, I'm sure everyone is a little OOC? Oh well, sit back and relax and enjoy the Ryley goodness :)**

**Four Years Later**

Marley was sitting in her apartment after a long day at work at her PR firm. This really wasn't what she wanted to do, she had been hopefully trying to break into something else, but she was gaining invaluable experience. She was about to take a nap but her cell phone rang and she grudgingly picked it up. It was Ryder, obviously trying to get a start on happy hour.

"What?" she answered grumpily.

"Jesus, cheer up buttercup. I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out tonight at Shenanigan's Pub." he replied.

"I just got off work! And we hang out almost every night. And we don't even hang out, we talk for like a half hour, discuss a game plan to get you laid, I talk to the poor girl for ten minutes and you ditch me." Marley answered in contempt.

"Well, we wouldn't have this problem of me ditching you if you would just sleep with me already." Ryder joked.

"No, not an option." Marley replied.

"Come on, Kitty and Artie just walked in, well Artie wheeled in, but you know what I mean." he said.

"Fine, give I'll be there in 15. Just don't scare any of the available girls off."

A little while later, Marley showed up to the bar as it was in full swing. And Marley had already talked to a redheaded girl and he seemed to be having some luck with her. Marley couldn't believe how desperate these girls were, even though Ryder had been nothing but a great friend to her and she really did want him to be happy. She just thought that he was possibly scraping the bottom of the barrel.

"Hey, green is not a good color for you." Kitty said as Artie wheeled over with her sitting on his lap.

"What are you talking about? I'm wearing blue." Marley answered.

"Don't play dumb. I see you looking at Lothario while he's getting lucky with the gingerbread tart at the bar .You're jealous. I keep telling you that you should've slept with him when he first hit on you." Kitty said drunkenly.

"And you should stop drinking." Marley shot back.

"I'm fine, I got my designated driver right here. And that is your like, your tenth cocktail." she said as she patted Artie's face and almost took off his glasses.

"Babe, maybe you should slow down." Artie said.

"Look, we're not here to talk about how much I've been drinking. We're here to talk about you. You love Rick…no Ryan…damn, what is his name? Okay forget it, his name is not important. You love him and you want to have cute, floppy Bieber hair babies with him and live happily ever after and all that jazz. Adddmit it, bitch!" Kitty said adamantly.

"No, we're just friends. I don't have feelings for Ryder." Marley replied.

"Then why haven't you talked about Jake in four years since you met lover boy?"

The name still felt like a dull ache in her stomach. She supposed it was true about what they said about never forgetting your first love. But she felt more angry than longing when she thought about Jake now.

"Because I don't have any reason to. And Ryder is a nice guy, but I'm just not that into him." she said as she stole a glance at him. Maybe it was just her, but she couldn't help but think Ryder looked really uninterested.

"If you're not into him, then why do you keep stealing glances at him?" Artie asked her.

"Because I'm watching him to make sure he's not going to blow it!" Marley answered irritably.

"Who'd you think you're kidding, he's the earth and heaven to you, try and keep it hidden, honey we can see right through, girl you can't conceal it, we know how you feel and who you're thinking of…" Kitty started singing off key before she started giggling.

"Okay sweetie, it's time to go home." Artie said as he wheeled away. Marley smiled to herself as she watched Artie take care of Kitty. They may have looked like a mismatched couple to anyone else, but they were cute together.

"Ridiculous." Marley scoffed to herself as she stirred her drink.

"What's ridiculous?" Ryder asked as he slid into the booth next to her.

"Nothing. So why aren't you in the back of a cab making out with the buxom redhead?" Marley asked him.

"Eh, I just wasn't feeling it tonight. She wasn't my type." Ryder said with a shrug.

"Too self absorbed or too clingy?" Marley said with a smirk, knowing well enough what Ryder liked in a one night stand.

"I don't know, there just wasn't any fireworks. Maybe I'm just tired tonight." Ryder concluded.

"Or maybe you're finally growing up and realize you want a relationship that lasts longer than eight hours." Marley replied sarcastically.

"Nope, never. I'm never growing up. I'm fucking Peter Pan." he chuckled as he took a drink from his bear.

"Come on. There has to be a type of girl that will make you want to settle down." she said as he got her another drink.

"Maybe there is." he said mysteriously.

"Tell me about her." Marley continued as she felt the alcohol take effect.

"Well, she's beautiful, smart, sexy, really sarcastic but only because she doesn't know how to open up to people, and she's still a mystery to me even though I've known her for a long time." Ryder answered, his speech becoming slurred.

"Oh, well do I know this girl?" Marley asked him absentmindedly.

"I'll never tell." Ryder answered.

"Damn it, it's Kitty isn't it?!" Marley burst out almost angrily, even though she wasn't sure why.

"Calm down. It's not Kitty." Ryder replied, laughing at her reaction.

"Fine then." Marley huffed.

Just then, a large spotlight shined over their table. A DJ's voice boomed out over the loudspeaker: "And we have our couple for the spotlight kiss! Come on, kiss already!"

Maybe it was the alcohol they had both drank, maybe it was all the flirting they were doing earlier, or maybe it was the crowd urging them on, but Ryder and Marley turned towards each other and just kissed. It was awkward at first until Ryder put his hand on the back of her neck and she leaned into the booth. They broke away, slightly breathless. They heard the wolf whistles and catcalls from the drunk patrons.

"You want to go, somewhere more private?" Ryder asked nervously.

"Okay." Marley agreed with a smile.

"Okay. Let's go." Ryder said as they walked out of the bar.

A cab ride later, Ryder and Marley were furiously making out on her bed.

"So what happens now?" Marley asked drunkenly.

Ryder immediately stopped kissing her and buttoned his shirt and got ready to leave. He didn't want to take advantage of Marley like this.

"It's time for you to go bed. I'll see you in the morning." Ryder said as Marley looked confused and slightly hurt.

"You don't want to sleep with me?" she asked him.

"Not like this. Not when you don't even know it's what you want." he answered as he tucked her into the bed.

"Oh." Marley said as she started to drift off to sleep. Ryder pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Goodnight." he said as he stood up to leave.

"Hey, wait. Can you just, stay and lie next to me?" Marley asked him as she gently touched his hand. She sounded like a confused child when she asked him that.

"Okay." Ryder replied with a small smile as Marley curled up next to him and fell asleep. And soon enough, Ryder fell asleep too


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well this was a fun chapter. Again, everyone is slightly OOC. But at least their friendship isn't awkward...yet lol. Hope y'all enjoy! Please R&amp;R and I'll put the next chapter up shortly :)**

**I own nothing related to Glee**

**And thanks to Jennoist-OTP for leaving the review of the last chapter! And they'll realize it all soon, just read on ;)**

**The Morning After**

"Oh my god!" Marley screamed as she woke up, fully dressed and realized Ryder was in the same bed as her, also fully dressed.

"Shit!" Ryder said as Marley woke him up. "Did-did we have sex?" she asked him.

"Relax. We almost did but…" he started to answer. "But you stopped it." she finished slowly as she remembered what happened.

"Yeah." he shrugged.

"I didn't think you were like that." she admitted.

"You know, half of the hookups that you arranged, didn't even happen. When a girl is too drunk to even remember her name, I don't know, I just don't want to be the asshole that takes advantage of her like that. So we make out for a little bit and it's over." he admitted.

"I didn't know that." she said as she looked at him in a new light.

"Yeah, well you never ask for the details." he said as he stood up.

"Thank you. For not letting me do something stupid that I'd probably regret. Like, no offense to you. I mean…" Marley said in a tongue tied manner.

"Don't mention it." he said heavily.

"Hey, let me cook breakfast for you." she offered.

"Okay." he agreed.

After they had a breakfast of toast and scrambled eggs, they decided to watch a movie and rest off the hangover. The doorbell rang around noon and both of them perked up. It was the mailman dropped it through the door and she stood up, expecting a bunch of bills. Until she saw a cream colored envelope. It looked fancy and decorative. It was probably sent to the wrong address. She walked over to pick it up and saw the name on the return address label: Jake Puckerman. How in the hell did he even get her address? She hadn't talked to him since they sort of broke up four years ago. She tore open the envelope, with a pang in her chest. It was a wedding invitation. To his wedding. With some girl named Marissa. Apparently Jake lived in Pittsburgh now judging by his current address, but the wedding would be held in Lima. Not that it mattered anyway; Marley felt sick even thinking about this. Who would have to be sick enough to send their ex; the one who was incidentally cheated on by them, an invitation to their wedding? There wasn't any sort of indication that they even stayed in contact after Marley found out he was cheating on her. Marley huffed angrily at the bad day she was already having.

"What's wrong?" Ryder asked her.

"My ex-boyfriend from high school sent me an invitation to his wedding." Marley scoffed as she tossed it in the trash.

"What? Wait, this is the first time you've ever mentioned your ex." Ryder answered as she flopped back onto the couch.

"Yeah, because he is ancient history. He never even texted me back or anything. He told me he cheated on me over a Skype call and unfriended me on Facebook and unfollowed me on Twitter. I thought the best way to get over him was to just stop acknowledging his existence." Marley explained.

"This was the guy you were trying to get over on the night we met in college, isn't it?" Ryder asked.

"Yep. And I am over him." she sighed.

"You may be over him, but you have some serious relationship issues." Ryder said.

"What? This coming from the guy who hits on college girls in bars almost every day?" Marley replied, outraged.

"Well, I haven't seen you have a serious relationship since we first met. In fact, every guy that I've set you up with has been running for the hills. The most of the guys I hang out with call you the "ice bitch with daddy issues". Maybe, it might be good for you to go to this wedding and get some closure. Maybe seeing your ex-boyfriend move on will help you move on." Ryder explained.

"No, I don't want to see him ever again. Him and the girl he will inevitably cheat on once she has his kids and becomes sexually unappealing to him, can go live happily ever after for all I care. Besides, I have things I need to do. And going to Lima for this wedding would mean seeing my mom and hearing her going on and on about how Jake was a good boy and I need to settle down and, no. I refuse to go." Marley explained firmly. "And the only reason why it didn't work with the guys you set me up with is because you are a terrible matchmaker and none of them were my type." she muttered under her breath.

"What about Gus? He was perfect for you-he was a business major, and he loves puppies, and cuddling, and long walks on the beach-" Ryder said.

"This is Columbus, I have yet to see a beach that isn't an embankment on a lake or river!" Marley interrupted.

"Irrelevant. And he cries during Titanic when that damn iceberg sunk the ship and killed everyone and separated Jack and Rose for all eternity-" Ryder went on.

"Jack wouldn't have died if Rose made room for him on the ice float. That movie is totally stupid and overrated." Marley interrupted again.

"Yeah, but then the movie wouldn't have been half as good if Jack lived!" Ryder argued back. "And Gus is now an associate partner for some Midwest firm. You could've been a tycoon's girlfriend by now." Ryder continued.

"Gus-he wasn't my type. He talked too much and he was a smartass. And he was far too high strung. It was annoying." Marley muttered.

"Really? Gus is even more of an annoying high strung, talkative smartass than you? What are the odds of that?" Ryder asked sarcastically.

"Shut up." she giggled as she nudged him in the ribs.

"Look, I think you're afraid of dating someone new because you think all guys are the same. You just need to give it a shot. Despite your cold exterior, you really are a hopeless romantic with a big heart. You just have to let people see that." Ryder explained.

"Well, I lost friends in my sorority because you wouldn't call them back after they slept with you and I didn't take their side, so I think you're the last person I'm taking relationship advice from." Marley snapped at him

. "Okay, whatever. Be alone, at least adopt a cat." Ryder sighed as he stood up to leave. "You okay Marls?" he asked with a smile.

"Other than waking up next to you with no recollection of it happening, a killer migraine, and my ex-boyfriend sending me his freaking wedding invitation, I guess I'm fine. It could've been worse." Marley said, also smiling

. "Okay. Well, I'll see you around." Ryder said as he left.

"Bye." Marley said to his back as the door closed.

After a small nap, she was awakened by her cell phone ringing. If it was Ryder trying to get her to go out again, she swore she would wring his neck. But no, it was her mom.

"Hey mom. What's up?" she greeted in the friendliest tone she could muster.

"Hi sweetie! I just wanted to know if you got Jakey's invitation in the mail? I ran into his mother at Wal-Mart and she mentioned that he sent them out earlier in the week and I wanted to make sure you would be coming up." Mrs. Rose answered.

"You mean the invitation to his wedding? Okay, how do you even know about that? And please don't call my ex-boyfriend 'Jakey' it's disturbing." she replied as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, everyone in Lima knows. I mentioned when I ran into him when he was home for Hanukah that you would love to go to the wedding! I assumed you two were still close." her mother said.

"Are you even spontaneously running into him and his family or are you purposely intercepting him to try and get us back together? Just leave him alone, he's clearly happy now." Marley sighed in frustration.

"I don't know. His girlfriend is cute, but she's no you. And you should've seen the look in his eyes when I talked about you. He clearly misses you. I think a visit would be worth it. Show him what he's missing. Maybe he'll dump the bimbo and come to his senses." Mrs. Rose continued.

"Mom! Stop it, I will never date Jake ever again. It's over, I've moved on. I even got a new boyfriend." Marley blurted out.

"What? Marley Rose, you have a new boyfriend and you don't even tell your mother?" Mrs. Rose chastised.

"It's fairly new. His name is…Gus. He likes puppies and…stuff." Marley lied halfheartedly.

"We're very happy together." Marley finished lamely.

"Well, why don't you come to Lima for Jake's wedding and bring Gus with you? You guys can stay here at the house and I can meet him!" Mrs. Rose exclaimed.

"Um…um…um…well…we'd love to…but…" Marley stammered. She couldn't believe her mom. Why didn't she realize how pathetic she would look if she brought her made up boyfriend to her ex-boyfriend's wedding? Why was she even in this mess in the first place?

"No buts. The wedding is in April, that should give you enough time to arrange for a week off work and get your affairs in order. And please don't break up with Gus before then. It's embarrassing to attend a wedding by yourself. Bye darling!" Mrs. Rose said as she hung up the phone.

"What the hell?" Marley muttered under her breath as she stared at the phone aghast. She processed what happened and realized she needed to find a Gus to go to this wedding with immediately. She sighed and looked through her phone and miraculously, the Gus that Ryder set her up with was still in her contacts. After a few rings, he picked up.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hi, Gus. It's Marley. Ryder tired to set us up a few weeks ago?" Marley replied.

"Oh, hi. I didn't think you would call back. You seemed very, uninterested." Gus responded.

"Yeah, about that. I'm sorry. It's just, I don't know what got into me." Marley tried to say apologetically until she heard a sniffling noise over the phone. "Gus, are you crying?" she asked.

"No. Look, this is a bad time." Gus tried to say.

"I'm sorry, I can call you back some other time?" Marley offered.

It's just, I thought we had really hit it off. And now you call me and I don't need bitches like you taking my money. I know that's what's you're here for. But I don't have money. The SEC is shutting us down! My company car just got impounded. I'm going to be arrested because the suits roped me into a ponzi scheme. I'm going to lose my new house. So if you want me, it better be for love!" Gus sobbed.

"Um, oh my god, I'm sorry Gus? I think I'm just going to go now, but you take care of yourself?" Marley stammered as she ended the call. That was clearly a dead end. Forget Gus's life tragedy; what was she going to do now?


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Whoomp there it is. And have I mentioned that Kitty in this story is so much fun? She kind of reminds me of a young April Rhodes for some reason? Oh well. I hope you're all having just as much fun reading this as I'm having writing it. But this is about Ryder and Marley so she probably won't be here much longer. She's really only here as the voice of reason between these two crazy kids. Please R&amp;R, I would really appreciate it :) And thanks to those who have already done it!**

**And I own nothing related to Glee. I'm sure we all know that the writers of the 103K+ fanfictions for Glee don't own the show, but I just have to put this disclaimer for copyright reasons or something. ****_**

**Sunday Morning **

"Marley? It's Kitty!" Marley heard as she got another cup of coffee. She opened the door to let Kitty in.

"Jesus, I've been trying to call you since yesterday but your phone's busy. Are you okay, you look awful." Kitty greeted as she sat down in the chair.

"I'm fine. I've just been busy." Marley explained shortly.

"Yeah, busy getting some vitamin D. Unique and Tina said they saw you leaving the bar Friday night with someone. So how was it? I need details." Kitty replied eagerly.

"I don't want to talk about Friday. I have other things I need to deal with." Marley sighed as she got back onto her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Kitty asked as she picked up the notebook that had names and numbers crossed out.

"Okay, I need to find a date to my ex-boyfriend's wedding which is in about six weeks." Marley said irritably.

"Jake Puckerman? The guy you spent three months moping over freshman year of college?" Kitty said disgustedly.

"Yeah." Marley sighed.

"Why are you going?" Kitty continued.

"Because apparently my mom is the one responsible for putting me on the guest list and yesterday, I kind of freaked out and told her that I was over Jake and even had a new boyfriend to prove it. So now, I have to generate a stable relationship out of thin air and take him to meet my mother." Marley replied as she created yet another online dating profile.

"You realize how crazy you sound right?" Kitty scoffed.

"Hey! She's alive!" Ryder said as he opened the cracked door.

"And on the verge of a meltdown." Kitty continued.

"Yeah, so Marley, please explain why you called all the guys I set you up with, willing to give them another chance if they legally change their first name to Gus?" Ryder asked her.

"Because I tried to call Gus first but he was going through some stuff, so I just stopped thinking and started dialing numbers." Marley answered.

"Why?" Kitty and Ryder asked together.

"Because I told my mom I was dating a guy named Gus and now I have find someone named Gus. In fact, he doesn't even have to be named Gus, I just need a straight, single, male who I can tolerate long enough when I'm in the same town as both my mother and ex!" Marley answered.

"So what's the game plan?" Kitty asked.

"I've set up dating profiles on six different websites and I'm looking through every phonebook database within fifty miles to find a man." Marley answered as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why don't you call the guy who gave you that hickey?" Kitty asked her.

"What? There's a hickey?" Marley asked, as she looked at the spot on her neck. "Jesus, Ry. What are you, a vampire?" she spat out angrily at him.

"I'm sorry." he muttered embarrassedly.

"That was you? You and her?" Kitty asked him as her eyes grew wide with excitement.

"Nothing happened. It was the spotlight kiss and it sort of got out of hand until I stopped it before we would do something we'd both regret." Ryder explained.

"Liars. You did it. On a scale of one to ten, how was it?" Kitty asked them.

"Kitty." Marley warned.

"More than ten?" Kitty went on.

"Shut up Kitty!" both Marley and Ryder yelled.

"Okay, okay." Kitty relented.

"Wait a minute, Kitty you're a genius!" Marley exclaimed.

"Excuse me?" Kitty asked.

"Ryder, will you pretend to be my boyfriend for a week and go with me to Lima and keep me from totally going off the deep end?" Marley asked as she waved Kitty off.

"No. No. No. I'm not…have you lost your freaking mind, woman?" Ryder asked her.

"Come on, you're the only guy who I can stand to be around, you're moderately successful, you're handsome, and you keep me from doing crazy stuff all the time. You just have to pretend to be in love with me! And what about all the things I do for you? You promised you would be there for me for anything, no matter how crazy it was." Marley begged.

"Really? Am I really the best guy for this job? We almost had sex! I don't think I'm the best buffer between you and your irrational actions. Ryder said, ignoring her.

"But you stopped me from making a big mistake. You could stop me from possibly interrupting the wedding…or stabbing Jake with the knife he cuts his wedding cake with. Please?" she asked.

"I could use a vacation off work, I guess." Ryder muttered.

"So you'll do it?" Marley exclaimed.

"Ask me again. I want you to do it like you're proposing." Ryder continued.

"Fine." Marley huffed as she got down on one knee. "Ryder Lynn, will you pretend to be my boyfriend?" Marley asked with Fake sweetness.

"Okay. But open bar at the wedding or the deal's off." Ryder agreed.

"I'm with you on the open bar thing actually." Marley shrugged.

"Aw, you guys are so cute! You need a couple name, like Brangelina, or Jennoist! How about Ryley?" Kitty exclaimed as they shook on it.

"Ignore her and she'll stop." Marley said to Ryder.

"And oh my god, you could use that name for your first born child!" Kitty continued.

"No." Marley and Ryder said in unison.

"So when is this wedding?" Ryder asked.

"Six weeks. So we have plenty of time to create an adorable yet convincing cover story for our whirlwind love affair." Marley answered.

"A cover story?" Ryder scoffed.

"Well, we need to make people believe that people like us could fall in love." Marley answered matter of factly.

"Excuse me, I'm charming enough to create chemistry with a rock. You're the one who needs to melt the icy attitude so people think we have a healthy relationship." Ryder said egotistically.

"You know what? We're just going to wing it. How hard could it be? I mean, when we kissed I obviously didn't feel physically ill afterwards. We can do this." Marley said confidently.

"Well here's to us. And may our fake relationship withstand the first test of commitment." Ryder said as they toasted each other with their coffee cups.

"I'll drink to that." Marley replied with a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay, so there's a bit of a time jump in this chapter and this is the day Ryder and Marley leave for Lima. This is a little bit of a boring filler chapter, so sorry if it's underwhelming. And we sort of meet Kurt, and because this story is completely AU, Kurt is Marley's younger brother. But I promise there will be more of him. The Kurt and Marley being siblings thing sort of came to me after a conversation on tumblr with someone and while this isn't the Kurt/Marley sibling relationship I've been thinking of writing about in a future ff, I just wanted to see if maybe I could write those two together since we never really got to see them interact in canon. And thank you to those who have left the positive reviews! Words can't describe how grateful I am for those little gems :) Please continue to R&amp;R and if you have any suggestions for the anything in the upcoming chapters, you can PM on here or message me on tumblr at: teamnewdirections.**

**I own nothing related to Glee or else the newbies would've still been on Glee. Don't even talk to me about the cheap cop-out scene we got with the five of them. It makes my breasts ache with rage :(**

**Week Before Wedding**

"Come on Ryder, we got to go now! I don't want to be on the road during a traffic jam." Marley yelled as they put their luggage in the back of her car.

"I'm hurrying. I'm not the one with three suitcases when we're only going to be there for a week." Ryder said defensively.

"I need three suitcases!" she snapped irritably.

"Look, calm down. Everything's fine. We got our story straight, we have our hotel suite booked, the car is full of gas, we have our roadtrip playlist. Nothing is going to go wrong." he replied smoothly.

"I'm sorry. It's just, I hate when things go wrong and you can't control it." she sighed.

"Hey, I'm not going to let anything go wrong. Just relax and try to enjoy this. You get to see your mom and your old friends. This week is going to be fun." Ryder answered.

"Easy for you to say, you've never met my mom." Marley groaned.

"Is she really that bad?" Ryder asked as they pulled onto the highway.

"I love her, but she can be controlling to say the least." Marley answered.

"Look, I'll make her love me so she isn't on you the whole week, deal?" Ryder laughed.

"Good luck with that." she chuckled.

"Come on, who can resist their daughter's boyfriend?" he said jokingly.

"Okay, Gus." she joked back.

A couple hours later, Ryder and Marley pulled into Lima.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said this was a small town." Ryder said as he followed the GPS to The Lima Royal Inn.

"Yeah. I certainly don't miss it." Marley said as she rolled her eyes.

They finally pulled into the parking lot and went into the hotel lobby to check in. "Hi. Reservation for Marley Rose?" she said to the receptionist.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression you cancelled your reservation?" he replied.

"No. Why would you think that?" Marley asked as a nagging suspicion pulled at the back of her brain.

"We received a phone call saying that you wouldn't need it anymore. We had to give your room to someone else and there's nothing else available. We're sorry if there's any inconvenience." he answered dismissively.

"Oh my god. Unbelievable." Marley muttered under her breath as they sat down in the lobby.

"What's wrong?" Ryder asked curiously.

"Hold on a second." Marley said as she called her mom.

Her younger brother Kurt picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey, Kurt. Is mom there?" Marley asked.

"Yeah. But she's upstairs putting a bigger bed in your room for you and your boyfriend." Kurt answered.

"Um, was she the one who cancelled my hotel reservation?" Marley demanded.

"Yes." he answered shortly.

"Wow. That doesn't even surprise me. Look, tell her I'm already in Lima. And I'll be there in about twenty minutes."Marley sighed as she hung up. "She cancelled the reservation on us. I needed that suite! It had two rooms and two bathrooms so we each had our own space. I don't think I can handle being under the same roof as her again!" Marley panicked before Ryder gently touched her arm.

"Look, we'll humor her for a couple of days, get another hotel room and we'll just say we need our own space. It won't be that bad." he said calmly.

"Okay. I do miss her home cooking." Marley said grudgingly.

"That's the spirit." he said brightly as they went back out to the car. Ryder handed her the keys and she drove to her childhood home.

"It looks quaint. And homely." Ryder remarked.

"What was your home like?" Marley asked bemusedly.

"It was bigger than this. Just didn't feel like home." he shrugged.

"Yeah well, it looks nice now but it's a jungle inside." Marley muttered as they got their luggage. Marley knocked on the door and Mrs. Rose warmly opened it.

"Hello dear!" she chirped as Marley hugged her.

"Hey mama. It smells like you're baking your world famous chocolate chip cookies!" Marley answered.

"Yes I am. Now don't be rude, who's your guest?" she asked as she eyed Ryder.

"Oh right. This is Ryder." she answered as she realized she slipped up. "I mean, Gus. Gus Ryder." she babbled on.

"Oh. It's nice to meet you Gus." Mrs. Rose greeted halfheartedly as they shook hands.

"I just want to say Mrs. Rose, you raised a great daughter. She's the light of my life. She makes me want to be a better person." Ryder said as he threw his arm around Marley and kissed her cheek.

"Don't suck up to me just yet Gus." Mrs. Rose said with a smile that made even Marley's blood run cold. A timer went off. "Oh, that'll be the cookies. Leave those suitcases here in the foyer, you can get those later. Let's go into the kitchen." she said brightly.

"I see the sass is genetic." Ryder muttered under his breath as Marley jabbed him with her elbow.

"So where's Kurt?" Marley asked. "Oh he had to leave. You just missed him. He's auditioning for some musical or something." Mrs. Rose answered with a tone of annoyance.

"That's cool. You don't sound too excited for him." Marley answered.

"Well, he's convinced he's going to go to New York when he graduates high school. He wants to go to some school there. NYADA, I think." she said dismissively as she got Marley and Ryder some milk for their cookies.

"You know, Kurt's really talented. Shouldn't you be a little bit more supportive?" Marley asked pointedly.

"I know he's talented, but I don't think playing dress up is a good career!" Mrs. Rose snapped. "Now let's not talk about your brother, let's talk about you." Mrs. Rose said, returning to her syrupy sweet tone.

"Actually, we're kind of tired. May we be excused?" Marley asked shortly.

"Actually, Jakey called this morning. He asked if you were in yet and I said no. Then I asked why he asked that and he said he was hoping to invite you and Gus for dinner at Breadstix at 6:30 tonight to catch up and I said you would be there. You should probably go freshen up and get ready to go." Mrs. Rose answered innocently. Marley crushed the cookie in hand in frustration at her mother's antics.


End file.
